The Soccer Field Is Empty
 The
Soccer Field Is Empty is a story of teen love, steamy
romance, friendship, loyalty, understanding and an ancient prejudice
that still has the power to kill. Here is a tale that breaks
stereotypes of the ignorant and peers into the
souls of two boys who want what we all want; to love and be
loved. The story of Mark and Taylor, two sixteen-year-old high
school athletes, is a tale of love and happiness torn asunder by a
world that understands too late.
The Soccer Field Is
Empty is a new version of Mark's first novel
Ancient Prejudice. The new version is
greatly expanded featuring additional material from Taylor's journal that Sean found at the
end of Keeper of Secrets.
Ancient Prejudice will still remain in print, so if you want
to read the original version click on the Ancient Prejudice
link above.
Mark on why a new
version of Ancient Prejudice.
Since
completing Ancient Prejudice, I’ve always wanted to go back
and delve more deeply into the lives of Mark and Taylor. So much
about Taylor in particular was left unsaid.
Taylor was based on my “dream boy”, who has been running around in
my head since I was a teenager. Mark is the boy I would have liked
to have been. There is a lot of myself in both Mark and Taylor, so I
feel especially attached to both characters. I enjoy looking at
their lives from many angles because I believe there is a little bit
of Mark and Taylor in every gay man out there, young or old. SF isn’t simply a
revised edition, it has so much new material that it’s largely a new
book. The old book is in there, but it’s been fleshed out. I’ve
added the viewpoint of Taylor, too, giving the
novel many scenes that were not in the original story. As a
result of these additions, SF is approaching twice the length
of AP. One important addition to the novel is a list of
suicide hotline numbers at the end. I’m hoping that SF will
not only be a moving story, but a useful reference for gay youth in
need of assistance.
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